Later, she was left smarting after claims in Cowell’s biography that he wanted to bed her. The mogul, 52, told friends he was“mesmerised” by Cheryl, adding:“I would have liked an affair with her.”

But he didn’t even manage a kiss and admitted: “I felt like a mouse being played with by a beautiful cat.”

The comments were said to have incensed Cheryl, who told pals: “I’m nobody’s plaything – especially his.” She reignited the feud just months ago as well by agreeing to do the Judges’ Houses stage of the competition and spent the weekend helping Gary Barlow.

But after Cowell tweeted “Welcome back, Cheryl” she put the record straight.

She said: “I saw Simon’s tweet. I’m not doing this for him. I’m doing it for Gary. He’s my friend and he asked me to do it.”

She later said: “We’re ‘frenemies’. I’ve spoken to him many times.”

Last night a source close to Cowell insisted the pair were just “shooting the breeze”.

The source added: “This could pave the way for conversations down the line about X Factor but it wasn’t about that.”